“Come on, hurry up!”
“If you move so slowly, we can’t get on the boat, so move faster!”
Merchants rushed the workers.
The workers were sweating profusely, loading the wagons with cargo.
There were more than tens of thousands of wagons lined up in the vacant lot. Each wagon was loaded with goods, which inevitably slowed the work down.
“Be sure to finish all work within half an hour.”
“Don’t worry. By then it will all be over.”
Lee Changdu answered Captain Zhao Musheng’s words.
Lee Changdu was an experienced trader who oversaw miscellaneous work in his merchant group.
Above the wagon was a flag with the inscription Xuanwu Merchant Group1 flying over it.
Xuanwu Merchant Group was located in Kaiyuan in Yunnan Province. They bought salt off the coast of Yunnan and sold it to Chengdu in Sichuan Province.
Rock salt was also produced in Sichuan, but since the amount was not so much, there was a high demand for salt.
Xuanwu Merchant Group made a lot of profit by selling salt. However, they could not return back to Yunnan empty-handed. So they traveled all over Sichuan Province to buy tea.
Sichuan tea was very famous and sold at a high price.
Zhao Musheng was planning to sell tea from Sichuan Province to Yunnan Province. However, finding tea was not as easy as expected. Since there is a lot of demand for tea in Sichuan, there are not enough products to sell in large quantities outside.
For that reason, Zhao Musheng traveled all over Sichuan, buying and collecting tea little by little. Such efforts have now paid off.
At last, they had gathered enough tea to fill all the wagons they had pulled.
After meeting his goal, Zhao Musheng decided to return to Chengdu. Once they are prepared in Chengdu, they plan to return to Yunnan.
Lee Changdu complained and shouted at a young man loading the luggage,
“Hey, youngest! What have you been doing all night that you can’t use your strength? Can’t you stay tighter in the line? If you lose your luggage, you won’t be able to pay for it! Tie it tighter. So it’ll never come loose. Do you understand?!”
“Yes, I understand.”
The said young man answered with a crawling voice.
Lee Changdu looked at such a young man with a displeased expression. The young man seemed to have sensed Lee Changdu’s gaze, so he shook his head and concentrated on loading the luggage.
The young man’s name is Tae Yongha.
He was a newly hired worker. Lee Changdu hired him because he had a big physique and strength, but he was not very good at work, so he made a lot of mistakes.
Because of this, Lee Changdu was thinking that he should cut off Tae Yongha as soon as he returned to Yunnan.
‘There are workers all over the world, so it’s a waste to keep hiring useless guys like that.
Lee Changdu looked at Tae Yongha with dissatisfied eyes, and then went to the carriage at the front.
When Lee Changdu disappeared, Tae Yongha gently lifted his head.
It was an ordinary face.
The face was slightly flat, and the eyes, nose and mouth were all flat, so there was no prominent spot. It was an ambiguous face that was difficult to say whether he was handsome or ugly.
Tae Yongha started to focus on work again.
He pulled the string as hard as he could to secure the object, and shook it a couple of times to make sure it was firmly fixed.
“It’s okay.”
Although Lee Changdu criticized him for not being able to work properly, Tae Yongha was actually pretty good. It was just that Lee Changdu didn’t like him.
The reason was that he left the dorm without permission a couple of times.
“Well, it doesn’t matter. I don’t plan on staying here too long.”
Tae Yongha mumbled softly and sat down in the empty space behind the cart.
Although the Xuanwu Merchant Group is said to be quite a large company, it does not take care of workers like him.
A worker like Tae Yongha had to walk all the way up, or get stuck in a corner like this on his own.
He was lucky enough to ride a wagon.
A lot of the workers trudged next to the wagon.
“Everyone, let’s depart!”
Finally, when all the luggage was loaded, the Xuanwu Merchant Group started to move.
The warriors escorting the merchant company took the lead, followed by merchants and wagons.
Tae Yongha sat at the back of the last wagon and looked up at the sky.
As he was riding in the last wagon, no one paid any attention to him. Even the worker driving the wagon he’s riding on. The high load blocked people’s gaze.
Tae Yongha took something out of his arms.
It was an elongated container.
When he opened the lid of the barrel, several envelopes came out.
After confirming once again that no one was around, Tae Yongha opened the envelopes. Inside the envelope was a fine powder.
Tae Yongha carefully started mixing the powder in each bag. It had to be mixed in the correct proportions without any error.
Tae Yongha concentrated on mixing the powder without blinking once.
After a while, the powder was completed in the desired ratio.
The finished powder had the color of a fine azalea.
Tae Yongha put azalea powder in a bamboo barrel and sealed it.
“Hoo…!”
When the series of work was finished, Tae Yongha’s back was drenched with sweat.
It was a task that required a high degree of concentration. It was fortunate that the work was completed without any accidents.
Then he heard people’s voices from the front.
“Be careful because this road is rough.”
“Check again to make sure the load wouldn’t fall off.”
The well-polished roads ended and a rough road appeared. Because the road was so rough, the wagon swayed left and right.
The porters in the wagons got down and held the load so it wouldn’t fall.
No matter how strong the straps were, if the road was this rough, the load could fall. The merchants and workers moved, taking care not to let the load fall.
After a while, a large river finally appeared.
It was a river leading to their destination, Chengdu.
A boat was already waiting in the small dock. It was the Unmado Steel Ship which was obtained in advance.
The people of the merchant group loaded the wagons and horses on the Unmado Steel Ship.
Finally, after all the work was done, the Unmado Steel Ship left the dock.
“Phew! I guess we can get some rest now.”
“It’s cool.”
Merchants and workers sat on the decks and rested.
It was quick to get to Chengdu by boat. There was no need to be vigilant in this area, as there were no enemies.
Merchants and workers were given a honey-like rest.
The boat, which received the tailwind, went down the river at high speed. After running like that for half a day, they could already see Chengdu in the distance.
There were smiles on people’s lips.
They were going to spend a few days resting once they arrived in Chengdu.
‘When we arrive in Chengdu, I should stop by the brothel first.’
‘I can drink as much as I want.’
Everyone daydreamed.
Splash!
They suddenly heard the sound of something falling into the water from the rear of the boat.
“Someone have fallen.”
“Someone fell into the water.”
At the sudden commotion, Zhao Musheng, the owner of the merchant group, hurriedly ran to the rear.
Workers were gathered in the rear.
Zhao Musheng asked hastily.
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